Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs in Cabernet Sauce

This is dude food.

Total and complete dude food.

In fact, I think Adam almost proposed to me all over the other night after I served him these beef short ribs, sitting on a creamy mound of Parmesan risotto. I’m completely serious. The short ribs were so tender the meat fell right off the bone, no knives required! Just another reason why my slow cooker is my absolute favorite cooking appliance. There’s no way you can get meat this tender without one.

I developed this recipe for Barefoot Wine and admittedly, had a bit of a heavy hand pouring the Cabernet. There’s no such thing as too much wine, right? Right.

Here’s everything you need. Now, this isn’t one of those slow cooker recipes where you just throw every ingredients in the pot and run. You’ve gotta do a little prep work here but the final result is definitely worth your time. The flavor that comes from taking a few extra minutes to brown your short ribs before sticking in the slow cooker makes it worth it.

After browning your short ribs, you mix up the red wine sauce on the stove then pour over the short ribs in the slow cooker. Then, let ’em simmer away all day long…or all night long! Nothing like waking up to the smell of ribs cooking. Heh.

These are super duper tender and I like to serve them on top of risotto — or mashed potatoes, if you prefer! The other night I made some risotto with the rest of the beef broth and lots of Parmesan cheese to go with these. Add a salad and you’re good to go. Ultimate comfort food right here.

Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. When hot, add the short ribs. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the ribs in the pan and brown. This will take about three to four minutes per side. You want them very nice and caramelized.

After the ribs have browned, remove from carefully and set them at the bottom of your slow cooker. Take the pan off the heat briefly to cool down, then return to medium heat and add the minced shallots and diced celery. Saute for about five minutes until tender, then add the tomato paste. Mash the tomato paste into the veggies using a rubber spatula and continue to sauté on medium heat for another four minutes.

Pour the wine and the beef broth into the skillet and stir. Add the brown sugar, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of pepper and the flour. Stir well to get rid of any flour clumps.

Bring sauce to a boil, then to a simmer. Pour sauce right over ribs in the slow cooker. Sprinkle remaining salt and pepper on top. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on HIGH for seven to eight hours or on LOW for 11-12 hours. When done, the meat should literally be falling off the bone.

@ Anne – I know what you mean, just dump all the ingredients into the crockpot instead of browning and making the sauce separately. This is what I plan to do tomorrow so I’ll let you know how it turns out! I’m all about dump & go with the crockpot! 😉

Short Ribs are my vice, my grandmother had the best recipe she’d serve when we’d arrive from our 12 hour car ride to visit her. She could have made them twice in the time with the slow cooker! Looks delish.

Sasha

Sharen

February 27, 2013 at 9:28 am

My original recipe was for making short ribs in the oven. Brown the ribs all around, pour off the fat, season with salt & pepper. Add a sliced onion 1 cup of water, cover & bake at 325 for 2 hours (basting occasionally with pan juices. During last 45 minutes add 1 sliced onion, 4 medium potatoes, quartered, 8 small white onion, peeled. During last 15 minutes before meat is done, add 6 – 8 carrots sliced lengthwise and about 3/4 pound of green beans.

Peggy

November 30, 2013 at 8:40 am

Thank-you so much for a version of short ribs that does not have wine in it as much as a streamlined oven recipe. I think I’ll try yours but combine some of the original techniques like cooking the tomato paste after browning the meat. Thank-you again.

These look so incredibly good, I’m pretty sure my husband would have the same reaction as your fiance. If he can’t propose all over again, perhaps he can bring home some chocolate? And some more wine, because obviously I will have consumed it while making these 🙂

Ashley

I woke up this morning thinking that I wanted to make short ribs today, and so excited to find your recipe! Everything is simmering away in the slow cooker and the kitchen smells amazing. Can’t wait to eat them later!

Aimee

February 3, 2013 at 8:36 pm

I made these today. The sauce was a little thin for my taste and it’s far too much prep work for a slow cooker meal– if I’m trying to put something together in the morning with the crockpot, I don’t want to spend ages browning beef and reducing sauce. I think this would be better braised in a dutch oven some weekend where you’re puttering around at home reading a novel or something. The flavor was great, though– I know you’re working for Barefoot but man, going up even to an $8-$10 bottle of cab is worth it, flavor-wise.

Diana

jenna

February 4, 2013 at 1:26 pm

I wouldn’t because then you are letting partially cooked meat sit in the fridge overnight, which may not be the best idea. For this specific recipe, I’d highly recommend browning the meat and making the sauce immediately before placing in the slow cooker.

jenna

February 4, 2013 at 2:03 pm

Hmm…that’s actually how I bought them! They were already in the small segments. I would ask your butcher to do it for you or if you’ve already bought the ribs, do they fit in the crock pot? You could brown the entire rack at once then place the whole thing into the slow cooker. At the end of eight hours, it should definitely separate.

Stacey

February 5, 2013 at 9:44 am

Hi! Looks wonderful, as per usual. How is Barefoot for drinking? I have zero opposition to using cheap wine while cooking, but haven’t ever tried drinking Barefoot. I’m by no means a wine snob, but was curious as to what you think!

[…] a Friday afternoon (a time best used for Internet-browsing and not real working), I stumbled upon this recipe for short ribs from Eat, Live, Run. Meaty (“dude food” as Jenna says on her blog), rich short […]

Katie

February 11, 2013 at 7:33 am

I made this recipe last night, and it was absolutely delicious! I added mushrooms, which I would highly recommend if you like them. Easy prep, made the house smell great all day, and a very enjoyable meal!

Nancy B

Jill

February 28, 2013 at 6:47 pm

Finally made this and WOW! Might be the best dish I’ve ever made! I only had a little over 2 lbs of short ribs so there was quite a bit of sauce, but that was not a problem, the sauce is amazing! Added the flour before the liquids and had no issues with lumps. Served it over risotto and it was delicious. I do think mashed potatoes might be even better because they will soak up more of the cabernet sauce. Thank you so much for this recipe!

Meredith

March 13, 2013 at 1:38 pm

I made this dinner for the hubby and I last week. It was INCREDIBLE. My hubby had what I described as a “foodgasm.” The meat is so tender and falls apart with a fork. The liquid makes a delicious gravy! The leftovers also heat up very well! Plus, my house smelled absolutely amazing with the short ribs cooking all day in the slow-cooker! I’m going to use this recipe the next time I have guests over for dinner 🙂

This looks lovely, and I think it would also be good with a bottle of good beer. Personally, I’d serve them atop a bed of polenta. Thanks!

It is important to brown them first, for flavour and texture but also because beef ribs tend to be rather fatty. You need some fat for the tenderness, but too much can be a bit off-putting, and “heavy in the stomach”.

Living in Québec, I’d be inclined to sub maple syrup for the sugar. Yes, it is much cheaper here, but wine is cheaper in California. As for Barefoot, it is a perfectly decent cheap wine, but too sweet for my taste, as a drink. The sweetness would be good in this recipe though.

Hi Jenna! I wanted to let you know I made this yesterday and it turned out great! I actually used a roast instead of short ribs bc that’s what was on sale :). I thickened up that delicious sauce a bit and served it over garlic mashed potatoes. It was a weekend meal that can be put together in week night time! Great recipe!!

I made these today and they are amazing. I followed the recipe exactly besides adding some herbs to the browning process. I don’t usually care for celery or shallots but they were both great in the sauce. Highly recommend trying this recipe.

SLB

October 7, 2013 at 5:34 am

This recipe was out of this world. The only thing I did different was used merlot instead of cabernet, just because that’s what I had on hand, but WOW, I ate enough for four people! I’ve always been skeptical about browning meat before the crockpot because I never thought it made a difference, but I’ve officially been converted. You get the crispy exterior and the meat literally melts in your mouth. Seriously, I cannot gush over this recipe enough! Yum!!

Kelly

October 18, 2013 at 2:17 am

We LOVED these!! I made this thinking it would be dinner for 2 nights and we ate almost all of it in one sitting. I added carrots in the last hour so we had some vegetables with dinner. That is the only change I made. Served with garlic mashed potatoes. DELICIOUS. (the meat fell off the bone coming out of the crock pot, so mine did not look like the picture, but tasted like a million bucks!)

jenna

Peggy

November 30, 2013 at 8:48 am

Tomato paste is used to add a depth of flavor to the sauce. According to America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) other potentials to replace it because they contain glutamates giving the umami effect would include: soy sauce, anchovies and mushrooms. My husband hates mushrooms and soy sauce if he knows they are there but I have used the anchovy technique (tube version like the tomato paste) and it works nicely in other recipes. Sometimes I use both it and the tomato paste depending on the recipe if the tomatoes make sense and sometimes they don’t but the anchovies are strictly a savory background flavor. 1-2 TBS in a bot of stew or equivalent, try less if you are afraid of it, just be conscious of vegetarian/vegan eaters if it is a non-meat dish to start with.

Meredith

November 17, 2013 at 6:54 pm

YUM! I just made these to eat while watching football…huge hit!! My Crock-Pot is large and runs very hot, so I was able to cook these on high for a little over 5 hours. I served them along side baked risotto with peas & spinach and roasted brussel sprouts! Thanks for the recipe!!

[…] I didn’t spend so much as a day feeling under the weather. I discovered Eat Live Run’s Slow Cooker Braised Short Ribs, which has quickly become one of my favorite meals EVER. I ate one of the best meals of my life at […]

[…] I didn’t spend so much as a day feeling under the weather. I discovered Eat Live Run’s Slow Cooker Braised Short Ribs, which has quickly become one of my favorite meals EVER. I ate one of the best meals of my life at […]

Justeen

January 16, 2014 at 5:55 am

I made this just before the holidays, but completely forgot to report how incredible it was! We served it over mashed potatoes. This is a great recipe to have for a special dinner or when you want to impress!

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SNP

T

February 17, 2014 at 8:52 am

I made this and everyone LoVed it!!! I did have a lot of liquid left over but I froze it thinking I can make this recipe again and just have to brown the meat and put in the crockpot with the already prepared liquid. Thoughts if that would work?

[…] Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs – Eat, Live, Run – Feb 01, 2013 · This is dude food. Total and complete dude food. In fact, I think Adam almost proposed to me all over the other night after I served him these beef short …… […]

Betsey

October 30, 2014 at 6:22 am

Jenna – I just made this for dinner last night and it was AMAZING!! I got up at 7AM to do the prep before leaving for work, then left it in the crock pot on low (then warm) until we ate it a 8PM last night with mashed potatoes and asparagus. This is definitely going to be a new go-to for me!

anne

December 3, 2014 at 1:22 pm

I made this last night after reviewing a lot of short ribs on pinterest. These smelled delish as they were cooking. They were so tender and fell off the bone. We loved the flavor of the sauce. The brown sugar made it. I think next time I will make it ahead and put it in the frig to skim off some of the fat, then reheat the next day. Unfortunately there weren’t any leftovers. Great comfort food served over smashed red potatoes that I boiled.

anne

November 1, 2015 at 5:29 pm

One more thing. I might try a mixture of boneless and ribs on the bone. That way there would be more meat. Also I wish people wouldn’t say how beautiful it looks over and over. It does, but you have to scrolllthrough so many pages to see if anyone actually made it and if they have any suggestions. I see this on all of the recipe sites.